• Lois Ehlert was born and still lives in Wisconsin.
• Both of Lois Ehlerts parents were artistic; her mother was a seamstress and her father was a woodworker.
• Lois Ehlert still has the small folding table her dad made for her art projects when she was a child. It is currently on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
• Before becoming an author, Lois Ehert worked as an art teacher, a free-lance illustrator, and designer.
• In addition to writing and illustrating books, Lois Ehlert has produced children's clothing, toys, banners, games, posters, brochures and banners.
• Lois Ehlert attended the University of Wisconson, Milwaukee, and the Layton School of Art.
• The art technique Lois Ehlert uses most in her illustrations is collage.
• In 1990, Lois Ehlert received a Caldecott Honor Medal for the die-cut book, COLOR ZOO. This was the first time an engineered book was recognized by the Caldecott committee.

Author quote

"I think being creative is a part of a person's makeup. It's something I feel very lucky about. I've worked hard to make this gift as fine as I can make it, but I still think that I was born with certain ideas and feelings just waiting to burst out!"

Go to http://www.readingrockets.org/transcript.php?ID=60 for transcripts of an interview with Lois Ehlert.

References

http://www.friend.ly.net/scoop/biographies/ehlertlois, accessed June 6, 2004.

Jacobs, James S. and Tunnell, Michael O. CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, BRIEFLY. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person Education, Inc., 2004, 180.